Final MotoGP test in Qatar

The final MotoGP pre-season test gets under way this week under the floodlights of the Losail International Circuit in Qatar from March 14-16.

With teams having had time to digest and interpret all of the data they had recorded at the last Sepang test in February, the MotoGP paddock heads to Losail for three days/nights before the season kicks off in earnest at the same circuit on March 29.

Repsol Honda will hope to repeat its domination of the previous two tests during which Marc Marquez managed to finish fastest overall. The reigning MotoGP champion said he had found the setup he was looking for on his RC213V at Sepang 2 and without any major new upgrades in Qatar, he will mostly be focusing on race prep and running simulations. Dani Pedrosa was happy with his performance at the last test after finishing seventh overall, although he has admitted that they have number of things to work on during the three days at Losail.

The factory Ducati team seemed happy with the debut of the all-new GP15 bike at the Sepang 2 test after it immediately seemed to solve the understeer issues caused by the old machine, with Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso managing to finish in fourth and ninth place respectively. Iannone seemed to adapt to the physically smaller machine more easily than his teammate as they rode the new bike back to back with the old GP14.3 version. Team Manager Luigi Dall’Igna has said they will use the time in Qatar to develop the GP15 further in an effort to settle on the best bike and set up for each rider before the start of the season.

Movistar Yamaha introduced its new ‘evolved' seamless shift gearbox at Sepang 2, which it will now use during the season. Valentino Rossi said that while it wasn’t the huge breakthrough he had hoped for, it was definitely an improvement. Rossi finished 0.7 seconds behind Marquez and after the two tests in Malaysia is looking forward to trying out his YZF-M1 at a different track to see how it performs. Lorenzo finished the last test just 0.3 seconds behind Marquez in second overall and, while he feels the bike is still “a little bit slow”, he is happy with how far his team have managed to close the gap to the Hondas, and would be looking for even more improvements in Qatar.

Cal Crutchlow will want to build on his impressive showing last time out in Sepang where he finished third ahead of a number of factory riders, as he continued to adapt his riding style to get the most out of his CWM LCR Honda RC213V. The British rider will also hope to have sorted out the brake issues that ruined his race simulation during the previous test, while for his Aussie teammate Jack Miller it is a case of just trying to spend as much time as possible on his open class RC213V-RS before his MotoGP debut.

Suzuki Ecstar Racing, as the factory team will now be known after its official launch, has been working hard on the data obtained from the previous test as it continues to develop the new GSX-RR bike. Having seemingly managed to close the power-gap to the other manufacturers that was so evident earlier in the season with an engine upgrade, the team have stated that they will have a number of new updates and parts for Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Viñales to continue to develop during this test.

Monster Tech 3 Yamaha will continue to work on individual rider setups after Bradley Smith finished sixth overall at Sepang 2, just 0.2 seconds behind the top satellite rider Crutchlow, as he made his return from an ankle injury. His teammate Pol Espargaro was left a little frustrated after a crash and various other issues meant he finished the previous test down in 11th overall, although he has stated that his team has lots of ideas about how they can improve on that performance in Qatar.

Avintia Racing will hope Hector Barbera can remain the fastest open class rider on his GP14.2, after an impressive 8th overall at Sepang 2, while his teammate Mike De Meglio feels that he is learning more about the Ducati with every lap and cannot wait to get back on the bike after improving each day during the last test.

Scott Redding is enjoying being the sole focus at Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Racing, and has stated that he will be looking to continue to get used to the new factory-spec Honda he will be riding this year. The British rider also acknowledged that it felt great to be back with the team that brought him so close to the Moto2 title in 2013 and that he needs to learn from the faster guys ahead of him to allow him to be more competitive throughout the season.

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini recently held its official launch in Milan and discussed the challenges it will face this season as it looks to make its return to MotoGP a season earlier than originally planned. With that in mind, they will be bringing a series of updates for riders Alvaro Bautista and Marco Melandri to test in Losail, in an effort to try and improve their performance at from Sepang 2 where they finished off the pace in 19th and 27th place respectively.

Pramac Ducati was happy, if a little surprised by how fast Danilo Petrucci was in Malaysia where he ended up in 12th overall, and believe that Yonny Hernandez can be even quicker in Losail now he has had more time to recover from his shoulder injury.

Drive M7 Aspar’s Nicky Hayden feels they are “on the right track” as they head out to the final test, and he and his teammate Eugene Laverty will be focusing on developing their electronic packages, while the Honda of AB Racings Karel Abraham, Alex de Angelis’ Octo Ioda Racing Ducati, and the Athiná Forward Racing Team of Stefan Bradl and Loriz Baz complete the line-up for the final pre-season test.